Odd Lot Chardonnay and Scotto Family Cellars 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel

By Ken, on February 22nd, 2011

It was great to have the Bryersantís Gang over Saturday night. It was a chance to get together and talk about new happenings in our lives, eat homemade pizza, and of course partake in some wine tasting. This was different from most of our wine tasting get togethers due to the lack of Livermore wines on the tasting menu. Now and then we like to branch out to the wineries in the surrounding California wine regions to see what they have to offer.

Over the course of the evening, I came to discover that pizza was not the best pairing choice with most of the wines we tried, but one wine definitely held its own with my homemade spicy red pizza sauce. I first tasted the 2008 Odd Lot Russian River Chardonnay before partaking in any pizza. I loved it immediately. It had a wonderfully complex array of flavors that played with my tongue and then left a smooth finnish. What surprised me most about this wine was how its flavor did not diminish and get lost when consumed with the pizza. It was the boldness of a red wine wrapped into a Chardonnay.

The label on the back read the following: “An odd lot generally refers to a specific limited quantity which will not reoccur. Once in a great while, specific lots of wine appear on the market that represents superb quality at affordable prices. Knowledgeable consumers now search for these wines. The Russian River District of Sonoma County is one of the cooler growing Regions. Cold marine air and fogs coming from the nearby Pacific mitigate the warm days with cool mornings and evenings. This wine has excellent structure and appealing acidity. The nose is expansive and the tastes are reminiscent of citrus, pineapple and mangoes.” This wine is distributed by Eagle Rock Wine and Spirits and you can find it in the Livermore tri-valley area at Gene’s Fine Foods in Pleasanton.

Another wine that stood out to me during our tasting was the Scotto Family Cellars 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel out of Lodi. This was one of the wines that I found did not pair well with the pizza, but once my palate was cleansed, I found it to be very good. It had a mild berry flavor in the front combined with a little bit of spice and a smooth finnish. The back label suggested pairing this wine with grilled meats, chicken, and sandwiches, which I am sure would have been a much better combination for our tasting.

I did a little digging on the internet to learn more about the Scotto Family and their wines and I stumbled upon the Scotto Family Wine Story, which shares the journey of the generations of Scotto Family winemakers from the mid 1800’s through today. I love these kinds of stories and this one is a definite, must read.

To find out where you can purchase the 2007 Scotto Family Old Vine Zinfandel, visit their website at http://www.adswines.com.